Foo Foo Cuddlypoops
by TheGrayson
Summary: It's been three years since the war's ended, and Sokka's life is good. He's a respected soldier, enforces the peace, and has a great relationship with Suki. All the loose ends have been tied...except one. An old friend decides to pay him a visit.


**Yes, an Avatar fic. Yes, I know it isn't a comic. Yes, I know Dick Grayson has no place in the Avatarverse (but wouldn't it be amazing if he did?).**

**I just really, really wanted to write this, since Sokka is my secret taboo love, and I really adore Foo Foo Cuddlypoops.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. Too bad it's just a wish.**

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><p>Sokka growled as he hacked his way through the maze of vines and creepers. Why did forests have to be so…foresty?<p>

He was currently trying to mow down the ZhienShu forest so he could get to Genji, a small town in the Eastern Earth kingdom that had reported several riots recently. Sokka sighed as he contemplated the spike in revolts that had torn through the countryside. Rebel Firebenders, still loyal to the Ozai administration, had been burning crops and houses, even though the Great War had been over for three years.

And the years had certainly been good to Sokka. He was no longer the thin and gangly little fifteen-year-old that had found Aang within the iceberg. His chest had filled out, his voice had deepened (finally!) and his skills with both the boomerang and sword had advanced to the point that Sokka was called "Master" by a good deal of soldiers, both young and old.

Katara and Aang were still deeply in love, but had moved their residence from Appa's saddle to the Southern Water Tribe, where Katara could care for the budding generations of Waterbenders and Aang could manage the rest of the world.

Zuko was still firmly controlling the Fire Nation, with his Fire Lady Mai at his side and his Uncle at his elbow whenever the twenty-year-old king needed help putting down the rebellions that flared up every few months or so.

Suki had gone back to Kyoshi for a little while, but had found the small-town lifestyle hard to stomach. Instead, she had left Ty Lee in charge (the young acrobat was much adored by the other warriors) and had gone and found Sokka.

They weren't married like Zuko and Mai, but the shining green-lace-and-moonstone necklace around Suki's neck spoke volumes. There hadn't been time for a real wedding yet, but Sokka had promised that as soon as there was a month to spare, they'd head straight to the nearest altar. They were as close as two people could get, but marriage just didn't fit neatly into their lives yet. The pair had devoted themselves to traveling around the world, defending the weak and fighting the merciless.

Even though the world was no longer in conflict, the people were accustomed to fighting and the peace was fragile.

Which brought him back to the ZhienShu forest. Zuko and Aang were trudging behind him, both grumbling profusely as they followed their zealous companion.

Sokka had dragged the two of them from their busy day jobs saying that they worked too much, claiming that they needed a "manly man trip" so that the three "manly men" could do some "manly bonding."

"Sokka, I thought we were going to the hot springs in Shantou." Aang complained, a slight whine present in his voice as he blew a couple of ferns out of his face.

"We were." Sokka replied, swinging his space sword (a recently retrieved, much cherished weapon) cleanly through a few small trees. "But Hawky told me there was a large riot going on in Genji, and we're the only ones close enough to stop it, since Suki's down visiting Katara, and Ty Lee and the warriors are too far away to make it. Good thing Genji's only a few miles out of our way."

"Uh huh." Zuko added dryly, trying desperately hard not to just burn down the entire forest. Starting forest was frowned upon, and he didn't need to start rumors of a new attack on the Earth Kingdom started by the Fire Lord himself. "And you couldn't just send a few Fire Nation soldiers because…?"

Zuko, tired of dealing with the multitude of problems the Fire Nation presented him, had let Sokka take charge of all foreign affairs, mostly because the Water Tribesman had a knack for politics, and the soldiers admired him enough to follow him. Sokka's ego had swollen like a puffer fish due to all the praise.

"Because when was the last time the three of us have done something together?" Sokka shot his friends a knowing glance as they sent panicked looks at eachother. "Exactly, you can't remember. So, we're going to squash this revolt. C'mon, it'll be just like old times!"

"Sure." Zuko murmured, rolling his eyes but following the younger warrior anyway. It was true; the three of them had hardly seen eachother in the three years since the war had ended.

Sokka paused and pulled out a worn map from a pocket. "Hmm, okay, we should find a canyon about a few hundred feet west, and straight through that is Genji."

"Lemme see that." Aang insisted, grabbing the map from a protesting Sokka. "Hey, didn't we stay in that canyon for a few days when we were travelling with Toph? I first Earthbended there!"

"Yay, sentimental moments." Zuko muttered, letting a flame dance and flicker in his palm out of sheer boredom. "Can we just go?"

"Fine, Mr. Moody. I see being married to Mai hasn't helped you any." Sokka teased, not really mad with one of his best friends. It had been strange, how well the Water Tribe Warrior and the Fire Nation Prince had gotten along.

Sokka went back to hacking at the undergrowth, brushing a few sweaty strands of hair out of his face. He had abandoned shaving his head on his seventeenth birthday. He still pulled half of his hair into a wolftail ("The epitome of manly hairstyles!"), but the rest of his hair hung down around his ears.

"Do you hear…rumbling?" Aang asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence, his expression perking up and his head swiveling around to look to his left.

"It sounds like—" Zuko started, but he was cut off by a loud roar.

An enormous saber-toothed moose-lion leapt out of the shadows, its growls resonating through the suddenly silent forest. It was huge, larger than normal, and a bright white stripe ran along its belly, contrasting sharply with its dark brown fur. His fangs were as long as Aang's arms, his claws long and sharp. Its gaze was trained on the frozen Sokka.

"Don't move." Zuko whispered to his companion, trying to slowly slip into an offensive stance without tipping off the great beast. The moose-lion noticed, and growled louder. Zuko stopped.

"Make lots of noise." Aang suggested quietly, staying as still as possible.

"I don't want to get eaten." Sokka mumbled, his eyes widening as the giant creature turned its gaze back on him.

"HAH!" Zuko suddenly yelled, bursting into action and releasing a plume of fire at the moose-lion. It reared, narrowly avoiding being singed, and then roared, hot gusts of air blowing back the boys' hair.

"Zuko, why did you make it mad?" Sokka yelped, scurrying away and leaping for the nearest tree. He dug his sword into the bark and used it to pull himself up onto a wide limb. "Now it's going to eat us for sure!"

"Watch out!" Aang warned, using a burst of air to divert the beast, which had been running straight towards Sokka's tree. The moosle-lion skidded to the side, shook its head, and then went straight back to its objective: eating Sokka.

"Why me?" Sokka wailed, scrambling higher up the tree. He clung to a branch as the moose-lion began ramming itself against the tree, trying to shake Sokka out.

"When was the last time you bathed?" Zuko shouted, running around on the ground, trying to divert the beast's attention. "You probably smell like raw meat!"

"And how is that a bad thing?" Sokka replied indignantly, letting go for a split second in order to yell at the Firebender. One moment was all the lion-moose needed, and suddenly Sokka was flying through the air, his long limbs flailing and twisting.

The beast leapt into the air and snagged Sokka, who cried out as the long fangs of the creature sank into the back of his shirt.

"Sokka!" Aang shouted, his eyes huge and scared.

The moose-lion dropped Sokka unceremoniously to the ground and sniffed him, holding the shaking tribesman down with a lethal paw.

"Guys, tell Suki I love her." Sokka wailed, reaching out pathetically toward Zuko. "And tell Katara that her cooking is the best. And tell Dad to make sure the tribe is safe. And tell Toph I'll miss her."

Zuko nodded, but was interrupted by a distraught Sokka.

"And tell Mai and Ty Lee I'll miss them too, even if they did nearly kill me!" Sokka shouted, trying to be heard over the growls of the moose-lion. "And tell Gran-Gran to make stewed sea prunes on my birthday. And tell Teo that I have plans for an improved glider chair in the top drawer of my cabinet back at the Earth King's palace. And tell the Duke that he'll grow. And then tell the Hippo to stop growing. And tell Suki that I have a list of our future three childrens' names stashed under my—"

The beast suddenly roared, startling all three boys. It sniffed Sokka again (as much as Aang hated to admit it, the scene was fairly comical) and then suddenly meowed, a deep, rumbling sound. It sat back on its haunches and whined, tilting it's massive, antlered head to the side and flicking its tail back and forth.

Sokka, freed, stood up and looked critically at the hulking monster.

"No way…" he breathed, his face suddenly lighting up. "Foo Foo Cuddlypoops?"

"Foo Foo Cuddlypoops!" Aang shouted, laughing as Sokka launched himself at the saber-toothed moose-lion, hugging it fiercely.

Zuko watched the proceedings, more than slightly confused. "Am I missing something?"

"Zuko!" Sokka yelled gleefully, somehow managing to leap onto the creature's large back and grab the towering antlers as support. "This is Foo Foo Cuddlypoops!" he stopped and paused, rubbing a hand on his chin as if in deep thought. "But I guess he's not very cuddly anymore."

"You…you know this thing?" Zuko murmured weakly, sitting heavily on the ground. The beast turned and growled at him, but was quickly shushed from a pat on the head by Sokka.

"Don't call him a 'thing'!" Sokka yelped, indignant. "He's an old friend of mine! I can't believe you remember me!" Sokka added to the giant moose-lion, grinning. The beast growled a bit, and Sokka laughed. "Well, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you right away. I was mostly thinking about, you know, _not dying_."

"You—you talk to it?" Zuko asked again, trying to wrap his head around the situation. Sokka actually knew this monster?

"He's not an 'it'!" Sokka exclaimed again. Aang chuckled before leaping up beside Sokka.

"Hey, Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. Remember me?" the Avatar teasingly asked, trying to make his voice higher pitched as to seem younger. The moose-lion roared in approval and Aang laughed louder, hugging its antlers tightly.

"This is great!" Sokka enthused, looking wildly joyful. "Now we can get to Genji faster! You'll take us there, won't you?" he asked Foo Foo Cuddlypooops, looking at him nervously for a second.

Zuko swore the creature looked like it was smiling.

"Then away we go!" Sokka cried, gripping Foo Foo Cuddlypoops's large, arching antler and pointing to the right. The saber-toothed moose-lion barked and then sprinted away, leaving Zuko alone in a cloud of dust.

"Hey, guys!" Zuko suddenly called, yelling after the retreating form of his two bests friends and Sokka's new "pet." The figure got smaller and smaller.

"Guys, come back!"

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><p>Suki was expecting a warm welcome when she returned to the Fire Nation capital. She expected Sokka to greet her, Mai to actually <em>smile<em>, and Aang to be bouncing with excitement, as he usually was.

She was not expecting to be pinned down by a huge, clawed paw the second she stepped off the boat.

"Foo!" Sokka's scolding voice floated down from somewhere above her. "That's Suki! Let her go!" The weight of the giant paw disappeared, and Suki leapt up, her warrior instincts taking over as she hurriedly searched for her adversary. Instead of seeing a small army of ruthless Firebender rebels, she saw Sokka, perched on top of a hulking saber-toothed moose-lion.

"Suki," Sokka said, leaping down from his seat. "Meet Foo. Foo, this is Suki."

He stepped forward and wrapped her in a tight hug, apparently unconcerned about the giant beast or the fact that Suki's mouth was opening and closing like a dying fish. "Foo" growled, and Sokka stepped back and glared annoyingly at him.

"Well, it was either Foo or Poopsy, and you said you didn't like the second one."

"Sokka," Suki broke in, still extremely disoriented. "I thought you were going to go stop the revolt in Genji."

"We did!" Sokka replied, puffing his chest up in pride. "It was funny, actually. All I had to do was show up on Foo, and suddenly all the Firebenders just stopped. You should have seen their faces!"

"Uh huh. And you found Foo, where...?" Suki asked, looking with concern at her boyfriend. Maybe he had sustained a concussion or other similar head injury during the fight. She'd have to get Katara to look at him.

"Well, actually I met him like, four years ago, when he was still a baby." Sokka explained, using large, sweeping hand motions. "I was going to eat him, except I was stuck in the ground and Boomerang wouldn't come back, and his mom nearly killed me and I almost became a _vegetarian! _And can you imagine me doing that?"

Suki placed a hand over his mouth, effectively shushing him. She turned apprehensively toward the giant moose-lion, not really sure how to approach him.

"Uh, Foo, is Sokka okay?" she asked gently, eyeing the Water Tribe warrior worriedly. Foo turned and barked, his whiskers curving up into what resembled a grin.

Sokka gaped at him. "HEY! That wasn't very nice!"

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><p><strong>Crap ending, I know. I just really, really, REALLY wanted to write a SokkaxFoo Foo Cuddlypoops reunion, since I doubt Legend of Korra is going to cover that. Hey, does anybody know when that's going to be released?<strong>

**Please review!**

**-TG**


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